Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland

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The Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland (FAC; German: Bundesverwaltungsgericht, French: Tribunal administratif fédéral, Italian: Tribunale amministrativo federale; Romansh: Tribunal administrativ federal) is the judicial authority to which decisions of the federal authorities of Switzerland can be appealed. The FAC's decisions can generally be appealed, in turn, to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.

1 Purpose
2 Organisation
3 Seat
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Purpose

The FAC was created with the federal judicial reform in 2005 to replace some thirty boards of appeal that exercised judicial oversight over the various departments of the federal administration. Up until 2007, the Swiss Federal Council, the supreme executive authority of Switzerland, also served as a final court of appeal in certain areas of administrative law. These judicial functions were also taken over by the FAC, ensuring that every decision of the administration can be reviewed in the last instance by an independent court of law.

[edit] Organisation

The FAC is organised in five divisions with 72 judges in total:

I: infrastructure, finance and personnel (16 judges)
II: economy, education and competition (15 judges)
III: foreigners, health and social security (13 judges)
IV: asylum law (13 judges)
V: asylum law (15 judges)

The judges are elected by the Federal Assembly of Switzerland and serve for six years; reelections are possible. The president of the FAC for 2007 is Christoph Bandli.

[edit] Seat

The temporary seat of the court at the Schwarztorstrasse 59 in Berne.

The FAC took up work in Berne on 1 January 2007. It is set to relocate to its permanent seat in St. Gallen once the construction of the court building there is complete.